Sunday, 12 January 2014

First of all I would like to wish you all a very happy New Year and I hope 2014 will be prosperous for all my readers. A few thing have changed, hence the late New Year wishes, as the web address has changed dropping the 'the' of the URL. The purpose is merely for simplicity and SEO.

The Irish economy for 2014

There are signs of improvement in the Irish economy. Trade has been good in 2013 with a 40% increase in trade to China alone boosting the Irish economy. The momentum is expected to continue for 2014. Unemployment figures are falling but the increasing pressure of the huge proportion of bad loans is an issue hampering Ireland. Reports today suggest that one of Ireland's leading banks, Bank of Ireland is expected to loan €30 + Billion into the Irish economy is a much needed boost to get the economy up and running again.

The US Economy

74,000 jobs were created in the USA last month of 2013. As the US continues to get back to work, confidence in building for US investors. Hope is building among Americans after 3 months of continuing growth in jobs. A strengthening economy could see more corporate spending in 2014 leading to gains for the US economy.

Riots in Tunisia

Political unrest has begun in Tunisia as a result of protests over new taxes imposed on the Tunisian people which is said to fill the gap in the country's budget. The protests come as a challenge to the country's road to democracy following the overthrow of their former president in 2011. The Tunisian economy saw a 2.7% improvement for 2013, however the rate of unemployment remains static at around 16.5-17.5%.

The Japanese Economy 'Abenomics'

The 'Abenomics' in Japan seems to be working. Coined as the government policies by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose aggressive tactics seem to be paying off, Abenomics has seen a 50% leap in 2013 by the Japanese stock market the Nikkei. Reports suggest that the Japanese economy grew faster in 2013 than any year over the last 15 years. The fiscal stimulus employed by Abe involved buying up large scale purchase of Japanese bond. A risky move to buy up the bonds of your own country, the move has been quite a successful gamble. 2014 looks set to be an exciting year for the performance of the Japanese economy.